Trump Plays Jesus and His Supporters Eat it Up


I watched Trump on a live stream from Waco for a while yesterday. It was hard not to gasp when he all but read the Bible and made it refer to himself. Paraphrasing, "There are those who want to destroy you and our country. It is only I who stands in their way. I am the one standing between you and the destruction of all that you value. I have made the ultimate sacrifice for you.  I left my comfortable life in New York City for this, to be pummeled in the press and now to be unfairly indicted. I have made this sacrifice because I love you."  He repeated the "I love you" several times. There are sites where his recorded speech can be seen to check on my accuracy. 

The idea Trump expressed about himself is strikingly similar to what the Bible claims Jesus said, (John 14:6), Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

There are a dozen or more passages where we learn Jesus gave his life, or at least a weekend of his life, for his love of his followers. An example is Mark 10:45 Jesus came to serve and gave his life as a ransom for many.

While it's tempting to say authors of the Bible attributed a political technique, "I have suffered for you. Now you owe me," to Jesus and Trump picked up on it and is using it today, the idea is older than either. I had the good fortune to have visited the country of Guatemala twice. There one can walk on pyramids that predated Jesus. According to anthropologists, one purpose for the pyramids was a ceremony where male tribal leaders, godlike figures, would make slices in their penises. Blood would stream and flow down the steps of the pyramids in dramatic fashion. "I am suffering this for you." I would guess clan and religious leaders have used the technique of "I am sacrificing for you" for all of the 200K years of human history. Trump knows this is political gold.

It is amusing to compare Trump's biblical technique to Gov. Desantis. The latter brags about his reelection and the hot button social issues of the day. Trump relies on a technique as old as humanity itself. 

Well known author David French wrote recently Trump's avid followers are so galvanized they themselves now dictate what Trump says in speeches. French wrote in the NY Times which may have a pay wall:   link  

Comments

  1. little helperMarch 26, 2023 at 5:13 PM

    Jon; Good observation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ardy BMarch 27, 2023 at 7:55 AM

    There was Kash Patel’s, “The Plot Against the King," starring "King Donald." vs the evil “Hillary Queenton”, which was pitched to every school in America, then Trump’s superhero trading cards which sold out in one day for $4,400,000+, now Doctor Zeus Huckabee’s “The Kids Guide to Donald Trump”. Oh, don’t forget “A Child’s First Book of Trump” which gets close to 5 stars on Amazon. Just don’t make white children uncomfortable by teaching them one time in America it was illegal to teach black people to read.

    Now we have the Prince of Retribution, the Orange Jesus trampling out the deep state where the seeds of his betrayal formed. Capitalism is his religion and he’s passing the tray. He ain’t going anywhere near a Golgotha for your salvation. Turn and run the other way.

    ReplyDelete

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